Purpose: The effectiveness of a voluntary hypoventilation technique was assessed in two rehabilitation centers in patients with hyperventilation syndrome.
Methods: In the first center, 55 patients participated in an open program determining themselves the frequency and number of their consultations. In the second center 158 patients participated in a 10-week program that imposed five 60-min sessions.
Results: In the first center, the patients participated in 4.8 30-min sessions over a 6.1 week period. Their cardinal complaints had declined by 48% (range 14% to 67% depending on the type of complaint) at the end of the program. In the second center the patients experienced an improvement in their comfort of life (less sleep disorders, fatigability, symptoms of severe hypocapnia), increasingly so with each new session, those having completed the program reaching a 62% improvement.
Discussion: Due to the strong correlation observed between the clinical improvement (with a longer interval between acute episodes) and the quality of patient participation the beneficial effect of these voluntary hypoventilation rehabilitation programs cannot be attributed solely to the psychological effect of patient care.